Jenni+TopmillerLBF

Executive Summary
//It was interesting to review the data from this survey, unearthing many trends in what we describe as 'boring' and 'fun' learning. I decided to begin my review of the data by comparing genders, viewing the statistics on the top four expectations in the boring setting and the fun setting. When comparing the male and female data I found they both agreed on the top four expectations in their boring experiences, to listen,remember, sit still and watch. Also, the fun expectations the top four of the male and female were the same. Both genders agreed on the top four expectations in the fun experience were to listen, watch, remember, and interact with other learners. So we are not that different after all:)// Looking at various age learners it became evident that there was not much difference all ages touched on interactive, hands on learning in their description on fun learning. On the other hand, young or old when students were required to take a class where sitting and listening was the drill they were BORED! Read on to find the top five indicators of boring and fun learning as described by our survey participants.

What Makes Learning Boring?
====1.**Overall respondents agreed that learning is boring when** **students are not expected to interact with each other in class.** 70% of all respondents reported interaction with others was not expected in their boring experience. Lindz, for example reported having no chance to interact with others to discuss the content at all, "We were just supposed to sit there and complete work." Mr. Bad recalls his boring experience, "copying data from the board, memorizing for the test... limited hands on." Pancakehead said that "the experience was boring because the majority of the day was spent listening and watching...aside from one group activity, there were no interactive portions...so we didn't get to participate much."==== //2.// **Learning is boring when the instructor is dry and speaks in a monotone voice.** 17% of the respondents specifically mention that their boring learning experience is tied to a dry or monotone instructor. This may seem low, but given the open ended question and the variety of responses, the 17% is significant. Craig Laig describes his boring instructor who presented dry PowerPoint slides as "monotone & uninteresting**,"** while Ken H complained about his bland instructor. Jim H attributes his boring experience to "dry subject matter...(and the) teacher did not attempt to bring it to life." Chili Pepper thought the instructor presented the material in a boring manner, "a rather dry reading of the material." //3.// **Learning is also boring when students are expected to sit still** **and not expected to move around**. A lack of movement in the classroom was a common complaint among the respondents with 74% and 89% saying that they were expected to sit still and not expected to move around, respectively. CJ complained that "I had to sit stillhard for meand the room was too cool (a/c too high) which made me want to get up and move." Rich's dad noted that they did nothing but sit and listen. Dancer lamented "I had to sit still for almost an hour without talking and moving..." About 1/3 of the respondents described their boring experience taking place in a formal class, where they were expected to sit still (79%) and not expected to move around (90%). //4.// **Learning is boring when the students are not expected to interact with the instructor**. Almost 1/2 of the respondents were not at all expected to interact with the instructor in their boring learning experience, and more than 1/5 of respondents discussed a lack of interaction in their boring experience. Scientist complained that "students were expected to copy information...(students) were not encouraged to interact with instructor at all." This statement was echoed by a number of other respondents including Scott, wd 40, and Jazzy J. //5.// **Learning is boring when students are not expected to think creatively** **or critically**//.// 72% of respondents were not expected to think creatively and 45% were not expected to think critically during their boring learning experience. Ronald Cook describes the learning experience as "simple memorization... and no creativity expected..." while cperez describes the lack of stimulation not only in the lecture, but also in the classroom setting. Dancing Queen adds that her experience was unimaginative and lacked creativity.

What Makes Learning Fun?
1. **Learning is fun when it involves hands on learning experiences.** A large number of the experiences described by the respondents involved hands on, while 19 of the respondents say directly that their experiences were fun because they involved hands on learning...59% of the respondents said they were expected to perform or present in their fun learning experience, compared to just 8% in the boring experience. Lindz said "It was fun to get to perform for others. We were able to put the research we had to complete to actual use." Delaney said " It is most fun when you get to interact with other people and doing the learning by doing the task yourself." In addition, Pearly said "Acting out the problem with the candy bar made it easy to understand fractions. easier than on paper." According to the survey these hands on experiences appealed to all ages, according to a third grader, " We were learning about apples and we did fun activities all week. We tasted apples, all different ones and had to vote on the one we liked best. Our class had to made a graph of apples in math, it was fun." 2. **Learning is fun when you are able to interacting with other students** 69% of the respondents said they were expected to interact with other students in their fun experiences... Many discussed the benefits of student interaction Miss Mouse said "This experience was fun to me because I was interacting with other classmates, moving around and really engaged in the lesson." RC discussed interacting with classmates in a language course, "The interaction with others was fun, and learning from each other's mispronunciations or bad translations ..." JJ Kelly said "It was fun because we got to learn about each other and from each others experiences." In my own classroom I find small group work to be very beneficial. I often allow students to work in groups, enhancing their learning by hearing other viewpoints as well as developing social skills. 3. **Learning is fun when you are able to interact with instructor** 71% of the respondents said that learning is fun when students are expected to interact with the instructor... Kaybee said " It was interactive and the instructor presented the material more in the form of a dialogue than a formalized presentation." Honkey Cat said "The instructor made the classes enjoyable because she interacted with the class, had a "fun" personality, and asked us to participate and practice what we learned ..." wd 40 said "Interaction with the instructor, group, and product. Moving keeps you involved and awake!!" People desire interaction, it allows them to be more active in their learning resulting in greater understanding. 4. **Learning is fun when you are challenged to think critically and creatively** 66% and 64% of the respondents said they were expected to think critically and creatively, respectively. Appletown Android said "This experience was fun because it was extremely interactive and forced me to consistently think out of the box." JJ said "challenging puzzles to solve that required creativity. It wasn't just note memorization " cperez said "We got to creatively think. Not only listen, but experience." Finally Krisco added, " The creativity involved in the learning process made it fun." When we are challenged to think outside of the box learning tends to be more fun. Many people enjoy having the freedom to tailor their learning experiences, we know that everyone has different learning styles and expecting all students to learn in the same way is not realistic. 5. **Learning is fun when it focuses around practical or real world topics**... Della said "it was cool to learn something and immediately draw from what we had learned and use the knowledge in a practical way. " Mr.Bad said "I enjoy seeing relationships between knowledge and real life, so the class was oriented to my learning process." Lightningblast said "I felt like I learned something I could use right away and was in fact applying it in the class ." From all of our teaching classes in college, it is stressed to use real world examples in our teaching. When using these examples it is easier for our students to transfer their learning and therefore can readily access it when a situation arises.

Implications
What they teach you about teaching in college is true, incorporate hands on activities, real life experiences, challenge your students to think, allow creativity, make learning fun, allow students to interact. These are words of wisdom proven by the 256 participants of our survey a small sample encompassing the overall thinking of students everywhere. After reading through the data, I will continue to use interactive exercises in my classroom. I now have my students in rows, but think that I will put them in groups of four, allowing them to have more opportunities to interact with each other. I also will implement more learning centers, where studnets are able to move together to various stations around the room to do hands on activities related to what we are studying. This exercise made it clear to me that all students desire interactive, fun learning opportunities. I will do everything I can to get my students mobile:)